wingless days
by let the light shine on me
Summary: Max's wings dissapear for some strange unknown reason. she needs them back to save the world. In this fanfic theres alot of confusion and action. how is max gonna survive for the time being without wings? read and find out.
1. chapter 1

They were gone. By they I meant my WINGS. I couldn't believe it. No, it could not be true, this must be a dream. 14 years with wings, why lose them now?

I panicked silently to myself. Fang, Iggy, Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge went off to go find some food for us. They had to steal since they were broke. But that didn't come as much of a surprise saying that we're sort of like fugitives. More like _mutant_ fugitives.

I felt my back one more time before I decided for sure that they were gone. I pinched myself. _Oww!_ It hurt. So I wasn't dreaming that this was happening. That's just great. How would I tell the rest of the flock that my wings were gone? would they leave me? Find no more interest in me since I wasn't one of the anymore? I really didn't feel like finding out. Maybe I'd go out on my own. Start a new life. Move in with my mom and my half-sister, Ella.

No. that wasn't even a possibility. They would find me. The flock would know where I would have gone. of course. I guess I would just have to takw whatever they have to say. I mean, its not like I can climb down from a cave that's fifty feet off the ground.

I didn't understand why this had happened. I needed to know. The flock would help me, I was sure of it. They wouldn't leave me high and dry, would they? Not in a million years. Not even if I asked them to. They'll always be loyal to me, Maximum Ride.

It was dark out. I still had my super good eyesight. What I didn't get is, how could I lose my wings, but not lose my see-in-the-dark specialness?

I could hear wings beating up and down. Five sets of graceful wings.

I felt my heart flutter.

"weeeerrrr'eeeee baccckkkk!" Gazzy shouted, obviously wired up on sugar. He came to a landing at the cave entrance with a huge wicked grin on his face.

"whoo hooo! We should do that more often!" nudge shouted as she came into the cave entrance. I felt trapped. Like I didn't know what to do.

_Its ok Max. everything will be ok. I know your wings are gone. I could hear you panicking from m iles away. _Angel thought to me.

_Angel, how do you know its going to be ok? I don't know what to do! 'Im scared!_

_I would be too Max. Just stay calm and we'll figure things out. _God angel was smart for a six year old. She never ceases to amaze me.

I faught with my mouth for the words until after about 30 seconds later they finally slipped out.

"uhmmm…guys…I have some strange and bad news for you. My wings are _gone._ I don't know why or how, they just are." I said extremely quicky. I wasn't quite sure if they got it until I had 6 sets of surprised faces staring at me with wide eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

I heard five gasps. Fang looked like he was going to pee his pants, Angel didn't look surprised at all. That would be because she already knew. Gazzy looked like he was about to rip one from surprise, Nudge just had a blank expression on her face, and Iggy was pale white.

"WHAT?!" they all said next. Everyone but Angel that is. She was in deep thought, concentrating hard on something. Probably trying to figure out what caused this disaster to strike.

"Wait, Max, how exactly did this happen?" Fang said with more emotion than I was used to hearing from him.

"I…don't…know…they just all of a sudden disappeared after you guys left." I was shaken. Extremely so.

I was shaking in my skin.

"That's weird…how long ago exactly did this happen?" Fang was now asking questions which was unusual for him.

"I'd say about an hour ago." It was silent for what seemed like hours until Nudge broke the silence. I knew she would be the one to do it with her and her mouth that has to be moving at all times.

"So, you guys, what are we going to do? It's not like we can carry her out of here. She's too heavy. Even with us and our enhanced strength and all…even though shes barely 100 pounds…"

"That might pose as a problem. " Fang said, a little more worried than usual. He didn't look like himself anymore. It looked as if something inside of him would burst at any given moment aside from the fact that he can always keep his cool.

The shaking was starting to go away and I was getting a bit more relaxed. How could I ever think that they would ditch me? They would NEVER do that to me. Why was I so worked up over nothing? Ok, it was a lot of something, but the flock was more important to me than my wings.

_You know Max, you're wings aren't really GONE GONE, theyre just temporarily gone. _Great. Just what I needed. The voice. I still had no idea who it was. I didn't think I would ever really find out. No matter how hard I tried and tried,I know I would just continue to fail.

_What do you mean?_ I asked the voice.

_There must have been some mistake, some malfunction. I know they will come back. I'm certain of it. I'm thinking it was a side effect to the experiments they did. _ Hmm…that sort of made sense.

_But why FOURTEEN years later? _Silence. The voice always left when I needed something important. Oh, lets say like…GETTING MY WINGS BACK! I thought for a few more moments. I chose my words carefully on what I was going to tell the flock.

"Ok everybody. Listen up. My wings are apparently just gone_ temporarily._ At least that's what the voice says. It was that it could be a malfunction or side effect or something along those lines from all the experiments." I guess I didn't choose my words too carefully. But whatever. I was just relieved that my wings were most likely coming back. But I still had a knot in my stomach from the possibility of them _not. _


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of hours passed slowly as we came up with ways to find my wings. Eventually everyone went to bed and I offered to take guard. Cause I wanted more time to myself to think. I needed badly to think things through even more.

The flock felt sympathy for me. Which I felt unnecessary. I saw it as pity. Pity for me and my winglessness. Yeah, poor Max, her wings are gone! Lets feel sorry for her so we can make her feel better! I wanted to scream out in anger, but I knew someone would wake.

I heard a rustle come from one of the flock. I recognized that stealthy sound anywhere. It was fang. And he was getting up to come to talk to me. He was the last person I wanted to talk to right now. Except, he was the first one out of the flock that I wanted to talk to. He understands me like no one else does. I have a connection with him like none other. Maybe he COULD help me. It was time to put that theory to a test.

Fang came up quietly and took a seat next to me on the cold rock floor. He could tell I was extremely upset. But who couldn't? I probably looked like some girly-girl who just broke a nail.

"Max…It's not the end of the world. You're still one of us. Don't feel left out. And besides, didn't the voice tell you that they would come back?" fang was being sympathetic, sincere. It was more words than usual out of Fangs mouth again.

"Fang, yes it is the end of the world. My WINGS are gone! They're my LIFE! It's why we live in hiding! How can they just be _gone?!_ the voice didn't say that they'd for sure come back. He said they_ most likely_ would. Which means there's still a possibility of them_ not_ coming back!" I was out of breath and my voice was starting to get shaky.

"Jeez Max. don't make such a big deal out of this. _THEY WILL COME BACK!_ I know they will! I can feel it! Why are you being like this?!" he sounded confused. More worried than anything, which seemed so unlike him.

"BECAUSE I'M SCARED!" I accidentally blurted out. I didn't want anyone to know that. I was supposed to be fearless Max. The leader. And now I felt like a tiny speck of sand in a huge mountain of dirt.

"Why are you so scared to BE scared Max? _everyone _gets scared sometimes! _Even you! _It's what makes us human! Even if we aren't all human! ITS OK MAX!" Fang was getting pretty banged up with emotion right there. Right now all fear of my wings being gone faded away, and all fear for Fang rushed in. I was scared for him. He wasn't being himself. And he was _always_ himself.

"Fang, is something going on with you that you're not telling me?" I asked concerningly.

"No Max. I'm just scared of what's going to come of all this. I know, its unlike me, but it's true. I'm scared to death." His voice cracked and he burst into tears. Oh my god! What was going on with this kid?! First, he's being _emotional_, second, he's talking_ a lot_ for him, and lastly, _HES CRYING!_

A tear rolled down my cheek. I was touched that he was crying for me. He doesn't cry for anybody, but there he was, crying for me. Finally, I burst out into tears. Suddenly, I was afraid for anybody anymore. I felt loved. I had the best family in the whole world. I couldn't ask for more. If I had to lose my wings to stay with the flock, I would do it in a heartbeat, no matter how much I loved my wings. I loved the flock more.

It felt weird, sitting there awkwardly, me and Fang crying together. Our tears formed one. _We_ formed one. We were a team. An inseperable team, and _no one_ could _ever_ bring us down.

I wasnt falling anymore. I was rising. I was rising so high up I could no longer see the ground. Fang just did that to me. Him crying made me feel all the more stronger. Especially since he was crying more me, and not anyone esle.

The hair on my neck stood on end. I never thought that fang had a single tear in him cause this was the first time I had ever seen him cry. And he cried in front of me. I never wanted this to end. Just me and him, curled up in a ball, hands intertwined as we lets our tears gush out. I felt invincible, like nothing could stop me.

It was now my mission. I was bound and determined to get my wings back cause part of me still couldn't stand to see him cry, to be so sad.

I would do this for him. I _had_ to do this for him.


	4. Chapter 4

When I woke up, Fang was gone. And so were my wings still. Go figure. Fang probably went off to think about things, like he always does.

I took a quick look around everyone was still sleeping. Except me and Fang of course, but I didn't know where he was. They all looked so peaceful, unsettled, as if they had not a care in the world. Which it was actually quite the opposite.

I walked over to the edge of the cave and decided to take in the morning air. I could see a dark figure, off in the distance. It was Fang. He was just standing there. He obviously could sense me looking at him because he turned his head in my direction. I saw him smile. I smiled back.

I walked back inside. Iggy was standing behind me. He scared the living daylight out of me. I hated being snuck up on.

"Iggy! Is that REALLY necessary for you to do?! Give it a rest already!" I said, scared half to death. I guess the whole wings thing was starting to get to me.

"Jeez Max. I see _you're_ in a great mood today." He said sarcastically. He was squinting, as if hoping to see something. But why would he be squinting, when he could see nothing? He was blind for crying out loud!

I shook my head and walked away, to the back of the cave, by Angel. I stared at her for a few moments, perplexed by her 6 year old intelligence. I saw her eyelids flutter.

"Good morning Max!" she said in a friendly way.

"Good morning Angel! Did you sleep good last night?" I asked curiously.

"All but…I was dreaming about you. And how your wings were gone. thinking of ways to try and help. Nothing came to me." She said, obviously bummed out.

"It's OK honey. You don't have to worry. It'll all be ok. Don't worry." I said, not even convincing myself. Maybe this was another test, a way for _them_ to try to get to us. Which I found quite disturbing. 'I think you should go back to bed. It's still dark out. Capesche?

"Fine…if it makes you happy…" she said sadly.

"It does indeed Angel." I smiled and walked back to the cave entrance where I could see Fang making him descent back to the cave.

Except, he wasn't stopping. He swooped down and picked me up under the armpits.

"Oh my god Fang! I_ SWEAR TO FREAKING GOD_ if you don't put me down _RIGHT NOW_ you're gonna find yourself in a very painful place!" I was angry. It's not exactly fun to be flying through the air with no wings. Actually, it's quite the opposite of that. It's a rush of adrenaline, but yet it's completely frightening cause you know that at any given moment, you can fall to the ground with a_ SPLAT!_ And you'll die. End of story.

"MAX! settle down before I accidentally drop you! I want to talk to you_ alone_. So just settle down! I won't drop you!"

"Fine. But if you do, you'll have to live with the guilt of killing me for the_ rest of your life!_" I knew he wouldn't drop me though. We flew for about 2 more minutes before we came to a heavy landing at another cave. How Fang finds these places, I don't know.

"Max…" I could tell Fang wanted to get into a serious conversation. Rare, but awkward.

"Yes?" I asked, waiting for the awkwardness to begin.

"I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have made you feel worse. I feel bad. I'm sorry." I had no idea what he was sorry about.

"Fang! You made me feel_ better!"_ Him getting all emotional really dd make me feel loads better. Like he was taking the weight off my chest and carrying it for me.

"But I was_ crying! _I feel like an idiot. I've never cried before. it's just awkward. I'm sorry you had to experience it." I still didn't have a clue what he was sorry about. I was _thankful _he cried.

"I felt special. You crying in front of me made everything better. I cried because I was _happy."_ It really was true. It did make me happy.

"OK…But that's not the only reason why I brought you here, just to apologize for me being selfish." He looked nauseated now. I knew something big was coming. "Max…I feel a connection between us. A special connection. " he stopped himself there.

"So do I…we understand each other Fang."

"But that's not what I'm getting at." Fang said, frustrated.

"Then what _are_ you exactly getting at then?" I asked him, curiously.

"Nevermind. Let's just go back." He didn't want to tell me anymore. He was scared. Like a scared little puppy.

"No. Fang. You brought me here, now_ tell me."_

He stuttered. This was hard for him. I knew what was coming, I just didn't want to think about it. He didn't say anything, he just swept me up into my arms and kissed me gracefully. I felt dizzy, like my head was going to explode from barely touched feelings. I kissed him back. It seemed to last forever, but a few seconds later, we pulled apart.

"Max, I don't care if you don't have wings. I'll always love you, just the way you are." I smiled, but didn't say anything. I felt awkward, just standing there looking at my feet. I felt blood rush to my face. Great. I was even starting to mush around him. What was happening to me?

"I think we should go back now and check on the flock. Who knows what Iggy and Gazzy are doing." I said, trying to avoid the whole 'kissing' subject.

"Alright. Lets go." Fang picked me up the same way he did on the way here and we flew back. He had a sense of accomplishment to him now though. My thoughts kept flashing back to those few moments in the cave. Those were the moments that I would have with me for the rest of my life, wingless or not.

The moments that I'll love. Sadly. I knew that me and Fang could never happen. It would just lead to awkwardness throughout the whole flock. But I could still dream, couldn't I?


	5. Chapter 5

I heard a soft buzzing off in the distance. Flyboys were coming, which was NOT good. I couldn't fight without my wings. I looked at Fang with wide eyes. He nodded. He would know what to do.

He took off to a running start, unfurled his wings, and flew off.

"FANG! NO!" I yelled at him, trying to get him to come back. There was no way he could face all those flyboys on his own. I could see a cloud of them coming up this way. They were about ten miles out.

Fang was circling directly overhead. Then I knew what his plan was. He _was_ going to face them by himself, to try to save me.

Right then, I hated myself. I couldn't let Fang do this for me. It was too much of a risk. He couldn't risk his life for me.

I could see them approaching quickly. They were moving fast, even for flyboys. I was sweating with anticipation. I couldn't lose Fang. He was too important to me. I couldn't lose anyone in the flock. it was all too much for me.

I wish mom was here. She would tell me what to do. She always knows what to do. She's the only human I trust.

The flyboys were only about 5 miles out now. In about 2 minutes they would be here, leading us all to destruction. Normally, I wouldn't be worried. Well, as worried. But now that my wings were gone, I was extremely worried.

Four miles now. They seemed to me moving even faster than before now. Maybe they could sense that their prey was near.

I thought back to the good old days when me and the rest of the flock lived in the house, not having to worry every day about being killed. But now, it was different.

I could see each of their faces clearly now. They were only a mile out. Soon, we would all be dead, or worse. Be experimented on. I couldn't bear to be in the school again, with its antiseptic smell. Just thinking about it made me gag.

They started to drop down closer now. I saw Fang get into battle position. I could tell that the look on his face was fear. Fang flew forward to meet up with them. He clenched his fist and punched one in the neck. Disgusting as it sounds, the head flew off and landed right at my feet, with electrical wires sticking out of it.

Fang flew behind them. He kicked one in their weak spot, the spine. It stopped and started falling down to earth. A few seconds later I lost Fang in the swarm.

"FANG!" I yelled out, but heard nothing in return. Was he dead? Luckily, no. He flew out with a flyboy trying to claw his wings off. He kicked it hard in the shins. It backed off for a few seconds. It locked eyes with me. I gasped.

I tried to run to the back of the cave. I could see the approaching flyboy coming for me. It swooped in and grabbed me by the ankle. I screamed. It was going to use me as a shield so Fang couldn't touch it. I was going to a decoy.

I felt another hand grab my shoulder and got pulled right side up. Well there's a plus, I wasn't upside down anymore.

"Let me go!" I yelled out in terror. I felt the fear of dropping again.

"Fang. Look at who we have." The flyboy said in its mechanical voice. Fang looked my way and his eyes went wide and I saw terror in his eyes. He thrust himself told me.

"LET HER GO!" He sounded angrier than ever. I could feel the flyboys grip slipping. It was going to drop me. I tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Suddenly, I felt nothing holding me anymore. All I saw was everything passing by quickly. I looked up. Fang was trying to come after me. I heard a crack and Fang yelped. They broke his wings and he also started to fall. He caught up to me fast. Soon, he was at my level.

"Max.." he whispered. I could see tears glinting in his eyes.

"Fang.." I whispered back. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close to him. He embraced me in a powerful hug. He wasn't ever going to let me go, not even when we were dead.

"I love you Max." I was awestruck. I just smiled and hugged him back. We fell together. I was at least happy me and him would die together. There was no hope left for either of us. All hope had left a long time ago.

Now all I could hope for was that the flock would be okay on their own. I didn't even get to say goodbye…

"I love you too Fang." I closed my eyes and we fell silently together.


	6. Chapter 6

Me and Fang were heading fast toward the ground. _Where was the rest of the flock?_ I asked myself. Why didn't they help? Why weren't they saving us? Were they already dead?

I could feel Fangs steady breathing in my ear. It was a relief having him here with me. He was probably in some serious pain. I wished I could help him, but how?

I took a look down. There was_ water_ beneath us! We would live!

"Fang!" I said in an excited voice, "look down! There's water!" Fang looked down and smiled at me. He was relieved by the fact that we would live

"Looks like we'll be okay after all." Fang shouted through the roar of the wind through our ears.

Me and Max fell together. I wasn't exactly _glad_ I was going to die, but at least I had Max here with me. I wasn't implying that I wanted her to die either. I'm just saying, that if we're both going to die at the same time, I'm glad it was together with her.

I truly did love her, in more ways than one. But in the other ways, she kept rejecting me. But having her here in my arms right now made everything a whole lot better.

I felt something wet hit my shoulder. Max was crying. She was probably scared half to death. Ok. All the way to death. I took my hand and stroked it against the small of her back. Trying to comfort Max was a pretty difficult task, nearly impossible.

Max looked down. I knew better than to do that, so I just kept my gaze on my life flashing before my eyes. She tapped me in the arm.

"Fang!" Max said in an overjoyed voice, "look down! There's water!" I looked down just to be sure I wasn't dreaming. It was true, there was water below us. We were going to be okay! I could still enjoy time with Max! I gave Max a big wide smile.

"Looks like we'll be okay after all." I shouted over the noise of the air.

We were approaching ground fast. This was going to hurt like heck. _Worse_ than that. I felt sick to my stomach even thinking about the pain that will no doubt be fatal. I sucked in a breath as we embraced to hit the water. A quick thought flashed through my head. _ Where was the rest of the flock?_ I bet max was wondering the same thing.

We were probably going a good two hundred and fifty miles per hour. That's quite a great amount of speed to be hitting the water at.

We were now twenty feet away from water. I quickly closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I held Max even tighter than before and we hit water with great force. It was one of the most painful things I had ever experienced. The breath got knocked out of me. It felt like something was closing in on me, squeezing my guts out. I wonder if it was worse for Max. I sure hoped not.

Max fell from my grip, but I held onto her hand with all the power in me. I started to swim towards the surface and Max was also. I felt the pressure fading. We were getting closer to the surface. I started to use my wings to propel us up even faster because we were running out of breath. Too bad we didn't have Angel's skill of breathing underwater.

We surfaced. I was panting from lack of breath. So was Max. she started laughing for some strange reason.

"Wasn't that funny, Fang?" she said sarcastically, "I thought we were really going to die!" I could tell that she was a little overwhelmed here and she wasn't being herself. She was a little loopy. I don't know why though. I was just glad we would be okay, despite the great pain I felt in my wings.

They were broken. I knew they were broken, no doubt about it. And I think that the force of the water cracked the bones even more. It was the first time ever for me breaking my wings.

Now I knew what it felt like for Max, when she got _shot_ in the wing. That must have been worse.

My mind flashed back to the flock. I looked over at Max. She looked serious again. She just shrugged her shoulders and averted her gaze to the water.

We swam back to land. Luckily, it wasn't that far out. Only about fifty feet out. It was hard pulling myself out of the water. I felt like I weighed about five hundred pounds. My clothes were soaking wet. I couldn't dry my wings out either. It would far too painful.

Max could tell that I was in pain, because she gave me a sympathetic look. I hated that I was being so weak lately. I was supposed to be strong. I had to be strong for Max. I sucked it up and tried to keep as straight a face as possible.

I looked around. We were on a beach. We were stranded until we could find a way out, or at least until my wings healed. Max also must have realized that because she looked at me with worried eyes.

"So how are we going to get out of here?" Max asked my burning questions before I could get to it. I didn't know how to answer, because I had no idea.

"I have no idea Max…first things first, we need to find food." She agreed and we went and looked in the forest behind us. We didn't find much. We ate some apples and peaches and that was all we had. They weren't ripe either, but hey, I wasn't complaining, at least I got food.

It was starting to get dark out. The sun was sinking below the water. Me and Max just sat there on the beach, watching the sunset together. I felt so alive being with her here. My heart leaped as Max reached out to me with her soothing touch. She massaged my wings for me. If I was a cat, I would've been purring right now.

The hair on my neck stood up. I swallowed hard and threw up right in front of me. Right in front of Max, which made it all the more worse. It just showed how much pain I was in. I didn't want Max to think that I was in pain. I wanted her to think I was strong, not some weak wimpy guy.

"Sorry." I mumbled, in fear of throwing up again if I opened my mouth too wide.

"It's ok Fang. Uhmm…by the way, do you have any idea where the rest of the flock is, and why they haven't come to help us?" Me and Max looked at each other.

"I don't know " I said to her.

"Something must have happened to them. They wouldn't just ditch us, would they?"


	7. Chapter 7

The cool air stung our faces while we sat there pondering through our thoughts. Fang had a look of doubt on his face. I had a look of worry.

"Fang…Do you have any idea where they might be? We have to go find them. Now."

"We can't Max. We're stuck here. You have no wings and I'm pretty sure mine are worthless at the moment. " Fang said, stating the obvious. I wiped my face off with my arm and stood up.

_Angel?_ I sent a thought out. No response. I felt so worthless just standing here doing nothing; not being able to do anything.

I felt Fangs breath on my neck as he walked up stealthily like he always does. I opened my mouth to say something, but thought better. It was awkward, standing here with Fang, confused, not sure what I wanted. I knew that I had to find out soon though or I would lose Fang.

I didn't want that to happen. Fang meant too much to me to throw it all away. I really needed to get my priorities straight. It was Flock time. no more emotional Fang crap. It was time to get down to business. But I had to wait for Fang to get better.

A helicopter flew overhead. I looked up and watched its propellers run round and around. It was hypnotizing. Relaxing.

"They'll show up. I know they will. They always do. Don't worry Max." Fang whispered in my ear. They would show up? How? He didn't even know where they were!

"But I thought you said you didn't know where they were?" I asked suspiciously. Fang had been acting strange lately.

"I don't. But they split when we were attacked. Didn't you see them? Hmm. They'll be okay. They're most likely trying to find us." Fang was right. They did split. Why? I don't know.

"Why would they just leave us though? And not help? Something is going on here that I'm not understanding."

"I told them to. They had to save themselves. I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't let them die with us. Angel told me they'd come looking for us in case we made it, which we did." It all started to make sense now. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"Oh, it's ok Fang. You only had me WORRIED TO DEATH!" I screamed at him. That probably wasn't the best idea cause he ran into the trees behind us. "Fang! Come back! Please! I'm sorry!" but he didn't come back.

It was dark out again before he was back. He emerged from the trees with 4 dark figures behind him. The flock!

I ran up to them. They were a mess. They had leaves in their hair and dirt caked on their faces.

"where were you guys?!" I asked them, quite curiously.

"Looking for you and Fang!" Angel yelled out. "It took forever to find you guys! But luckily we ran into a pretty upset Fang in the woods. Max, what did you do?"

"Nothing…" What did I do to make him so upset? I wasn't used to the emotional Fang. I don't think I ever would be.

"She didn't do anything." Fang butted in. "I just wanted some time to myself to think."

"But you think all the time Fang!" I yelled at him. "what is there possibly that you could think anymore about?!" I was frustrated with Fang and is mystique.

"This." Fang said calmly, holding a small blinking device in his hand.

**Heres chapter 7! please review my story! tell me what you think and give me some ideas! thank you!**


	8. Chapter 8

"WHA?! What is it?!" I asked startled. It started to beep. I was uneasy. Backing away slowly my eyes grew wide. It flashed a bright white light.

"I'm not sure." Fang replied, "but it keeps doing this…" he fumbled with the small black, blinking device in his hands, "its basically indestructible too. Watch. " Fang threw it against a huge rock with all his strength. He picked it up again and held it out to me. I pulled it from his grip, momentarily brushing against his cool hands. I blushed and looked away.

"Its…I…Nothing happened to it…it looks new…" what was this thing and why did it seem so indestructible?

"Exactly. Now watch this." he quickly grabbed the thing from my hand and took off into the air. And went so high up so that he was barely a speck in the sky. He dropped it. It must break. It's not possible for something to survive from that distance of dropping. But it did. It fell before me with a soft _clunk_, still in perfect condition.

Shortly after Fang landed before me. "How long have you had this thing?" I asked curiously. There's no way he could've had it for long…I never woke up to beeping or flashing so he couldn't have been hiding it from me.

"You remember when we dived into the ocean? Then. When we were underwater I saw a blinking red light just floating there in the water. I was curious so I scooped it up and this is what I found." I held it up for all of us to see. "I wanted to know how it could survive the water so I wanted to try to find _something_ before I showed you my discovery. But I came up with… _null." _ He bit his lip, thinking hard.

"Oh, I guess I don't know what to say to that." I gave an uneasy laugh.

"Wait, something isn't fitting here." Angel interrupted.

"What Ange?" I asked. What could possibly not be fitting? It sort of made sense to me. I chewed on my fingernail.

"Why was it floating and not sinking? I mean when it was in the ocean?"

"Gee I don't know angel, lets ask the person who _created _this thing. Oh, wait, WE CAN'T." Fang said sarcastically. He was being a jerk.

"FANG! Be nice!" I yelled at Fang. I was getting into the habit of yelling at him lately. "It does make sense! How could it possibly float and not sink?" I clenched my teeth together.

"Hmmm…not sure. The real question is, how is that…thing…less dense than water? It feels heavy when I hold it." Angel snatched the device from Fang's grip. Fang started to protest but thought otherwise when I shot him a dirty look. He just stood there like a little kid who didn't get their way. How mature of him.

"I don't know Angel. I know nothing about Science. But I do know someone who does." I faught with myself as to whether or not to go there or not.

"Who?" Iggy asked.

"Jeb," was all I said. Iggy looked unconvinced.

"JEB?!" the whole flock other than Fang said. He seemed unsurprised that I would suggest such a thing. Which made sense.

"Wait, that makes no sense! We can't trust him!" Gazzy said. I hadn't heard from him or his gas for awhile.

"I know. But I trust my mom. And she trusts him. So therefore, we have to do it. And anyways, he might be able to help me with my wing problem. So…yeah…" Gazzy shrugged his shoulders.

"But how are we gonna get there?" Fang asked, "First of all, I have a broken wing and you have _no_ wings."

"Good point. I don't know…Here, let's send them a letter. Tell them to come to us." I pulled a crumpled up piece of paper from my back pocket. "we'll have Angel deliver it. We can't just send it." Everyone agreed.

I started to write.

_Dear mom, _

_We need you and Jeb to come to us. Sorry but we cant explain until you come here. Angel is coming to you to show you the way here. See you soon!_

_ Love, _

_ Maximum Ride_


	9. Chapter 9

I took the note from Max after she folded it up. I would be back soon, with help for Max. I wouldn't let her down. I promised Max that I would do this for her. This was important for us all. This could mean life or death and I wasn't going to mess it up.

Taking a step back, I took a running start and took off into the air. I looked down to see 5 familiar faces waving goodbye. It wasn't everyday you left a 6 year old to go out on a dangerous mission, but we live totally different lives. I knew I was Max's favorite and all, but, I couldn't help thinking she'd be ashamed of me if I messed this up. Everything was on my shoulders now. Dependent on me. Now I knew how Max felt every day.

The ocean flew by quickly. Soon I was flying over land. Mountains started to come soon. I sent out waves to see what was going on around here. Someone was talking about a terrorist attack. Wait, a _terrorist_ attack?! Oh gosh. That couldn't be good. Everyone was thinking the same thing. I decided to go take a look. A gas station was in flames. This definitely wasn't what I thought of as a terrorist attack. I mean, come on! If you were a terrorist couldn't you think of anything better than blowing up a stupid_ gas station?_

The feathers of my wings fluttered in the cool breeze. Luckily no one was around at the moment which seemed strange. I walked over to the door. Or what used to be the door. There was a sparking wire just sitting there. I walked forward a few more steps. A head. A flyboy head! I almost screamed. They must have known I was coming. But how? I didn't care. I had to continue. I was being depended on. I took a few more steps back and took off into the air once again.

I couldn't have been far from Dr. Martinez's home because I started going by cactuses. I was in a desert. I could see her house nearing. I started to descend slowly. There was a dark figure outside, waiting for me. That always seemed to happen these days. people were always expecting us. It was so weird.

As I got closer I could tell that it was Jeb. I landed before him.

"I knew you were coming Angel. What do you need hun?" I hated how Jeb acted like everything was ok. Like he acted like he didn't almost cost us our lives. That he didn't send us running.

"Uhh, Fang and Max will explain when we get there. But we have to go. right away." I was out of breath. That must have been the shortest trip I had ever taken from Hawaii to Arizona. And it was a straight shot trip too. It felt like my wings were about to fall off.

"Ok honey. But you're riding in the jet with us. You look like you're going to faint at any moment." I was relieved by the offer.

What a surprise. He had a jet in the back waiting for us. I got in gratefully and sat down in what was a very comfortable leather couch that seemed to call my name.

"Where are we headed to Angel?" Jeb asked just before I was about to fall asleep. "Angel? We really need where to go before we take off." I looked up to see Jeb, Dr. Martinez, and Ella looking down at me. Whoa, where did they come from? I don't remember them getting on the jet with us.

"Hawaii." I responded quickly. The cool air in the jet felt nice. I was sweaty from the stress on top of the exhaustion of flying thousands of miles in a few hours. I sighed and soon drifted away into my dreams.


	10. Chapter 10

Another flash. It went back to beeping. I was really getting frustrated with the thing. I wanted to throw it against a wall. But, of course, it would do no good. Ugh. Just my luck. I wasn't a fan of beeping things. I wanted to rip all my hair out. I wanted to scream. I felt so trapped and alone here. No one seems to know how I feel anymore. About anything.

"Fang. Could you PLEASE do something with that thing?! It's really starting to tick me off! UGH!" Fang got a smirk on his face. Angel had been gone for about 4 hours now. She couldn't even be close to being to my mom's house yet. Which was a drag cause the suspense was killing me. "Ya know what. I'm gonna go for a walk since I can't fly. I'll be back later."

"I'll come with you." Fang said.

"I don't think so!" I didn't want to listen to the annoying beeping thing.

"I'll leave the thing behind! Geez!" Fang was finding quite a lot of humor in this. That was so typical of Fang. Stupid, stupid Fang. I would enjoy ripping his face off at the moment.

"Fine." I walked off not waiting for Fang, but he caught up quickly. We walked in awkward silence for about 20 minutes. "so what is it you wanted to come along for?"

"I don't know…I just wanted to be with you. We never really get to be alone that often." This was making no sense at all.

"HA! We spent hours alone together! You remember? That time when you-" I cut myself off. "I mean when we dive bombed into the ocean?" I almost mentioned that time when he kissed me. But luckily I saved myself from the humiliation.

"I know what you were going to say Max. It's ok you know. I was there." But I didn't want to talk to him about it again. "I know you liked it Max. you can't deny it." He grinned as if posing a challenge.

"UGH! Fang! I did not!" I lied. I did like it. I just didn't want Fang to get his way. He always got his way. This time, I would get MY way. It was hard, lying to Fang. He's like a 'Max lie detector.' He was the only one that could see through my lies. Which was sometimes a pretty bad thing.

"you liar! Yeah you did!" his grin grew wider. He always finds these types of things funny. Whoa! I almost ran into a tree. I needed to start watching where I was going. I stopped at a log and sat down hoping he would keep going and not notice that I stopped. But he did. He turned around and sat next to me. "Come on Max. I'm kidding. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad."

"Sure you aren't." he took my hand in his. I didn't pull away. I pulled closer. I rested my head on his shoulder. I closed my eyes slowly and thought of all the good times that I had with Fang. There were too many. Like the time when we were about 12 years old and we laughed through a movie. I couldn't remember which movie it was but all that mattered was that I was with Fang. He could brighten any day. I remembered all the pranks that everyone in the flock pulled. Especially me and Fang.

All I could do was smile. Fang looked at me and cocked his head. I smiled back. He stroked my hair and all I could think about was Fang. Only Fang mattered. Fang was the only thing that made my world. Fang made everything worth while. Fang made me push myself. To push myself to make everything ok. To keep the flock safe. Fang saved me from myself.


	11. Chapter 11

Jeb fumbled with the blinking thing in his hand. His brows were furrowed. I was a bit concerned about Angel. She wasn't even trying to read my mind. They did get here awfully fast. It only took them about 10 hours. She was just sitting there with droopy eyes.

"Hmmm…" Jeb thought out loud. "You're right, it is indestructible. I've never seen anything like it." That was a lot of help. We needed answers. He still didn't know about the wing problem yet, which seemed strange since I had no jacket on. I did have my back faced away from him, but still. He should've figured it out by now.

"So you have no idea what the heck that thing is?" Iggy asked. Iggy's eyesight seemed to be returning little by little. It must be strange for him. He can see bright colors. He can slightly see in broad daylight, but everything is blurry. The sun was starting to go down.

"I might have an idea. I think it was a defective experiment. They wanted to use it to erase memory. But it obviously is not working since you people still remember everything. It was created by Itex. That much I know. Every time it flashed a bright white light it was supposed to erase memories. But that proved ineffective because it must have been erasing memories of the people in possession of the things. "

"Oh, so you don't know what it's called then?" It was the first time I had spoken in awhile. I was glad it was ineffective or else we'd all be sitting here like brain dead morons.

"Not really. All I know is that it starts with a 'T' I believe. Uhhh…Telepator I think? I know. Strange Name. but thankfully, I neither created it nor named it." I laughed at the name. That was about the worst name anyone could come up with. I could come up with better than that and I wasn't exactly the brightest bulb on the tree! HA!

"Telepator? Wow that is pretty lame." Fang said, amused. I was too busy chuckling to even notice Jeb pull out a knife until Iggy said something.

"Waaahhh!" Iggy yelled out. I thought Jeb was going to go for Iggy with it, but instead he tried to stab the Telepator. It sparked, but other than that, it did nothing. Gazzy hadn't said much for awhile and Nudge seemed off in her own little world watching butterflies fly by. I was surprised she wasn't talking out heads off at the moment.

"Hmm." Jeb said yet again. He stabbed it again and the bright red light flashed brighter than ever. It made a weird buzzing noise and fell silent. No more blinking red light, no more beeping.

"What did you just do?!" Nudge asked, fascinated. That was strange what Jeb just did. How could it not be indestructible to his knife? I leaned over and it was still in perfect condition. Then what happened to the blinking red light?

"This is only temporary. I hit the reset button. That reset button was quite a pain."

"Why would it have a reset button?" I asked curiously. I frowned and lowered my gaze to the tiny blue dot on the Telepator.

"It's memory will eventually get filled. It does hold the memory of all the people in which it has taken it away from. The only problem is that it shuts off for days sometimes when it is hit. Some strange flaw."

"But why would they want to erase peoples memories?" Fang asked.

"They didn't want people to know about you or any other recombinant DNA life forms. So, they created this to erase the memory of all those who had learned of you. Which proved to be harder than they thought because pretty much everyone in America knows of you. So, it proved to be a failure. I think it left brain damage also. It killed a few people." That was bad. What more horrible things could Itex possibly do?

"Uhh, Jeb? We have another question for you. It concerns my wings. They're gone." Jeb dropped his knife to the ground along with the Telepator and his mouth dropped open.

**i realize this chapter might be strange, but plz review and help me come up with ideas for future chapters! thanks!**


	12. Chapter 12

Jeb pondered through his thoughts trying to remain calm but wasn't doing a good job of it. I could tell that he was surprised about this. There was no way he could've been prepared for something like this. He has probably never seen anything like it.

"Jeb? You okay?" I asked concerningly. His hands were shaking.

"Yeah…" Jeb blanky stated. He shifted his feet to face me. "So you're wings are literally _gone?_"

"Mhm."

"Well, I'm not sure why you're wings are gone. You're going to have to wait and see what happens. Sorry," Jeb spoke.

I sighed. I was expecting the reaction I got out of Jeb, but I was not expecting his answer. He always knew. ALWAYS. How could he not know now?

"It's fine," I moaned. But it wasn't fine. It was far from fine. It was terrible. I wanted to know! I needed to know! This was the sole reason why we dragged Jeb's sorry butt out here! I turned to walk away back into the woods. I needed some time alone to think about what just happened.

I sat out on a log for hours, until it got dark. Fang surprisingly left me alone. For once. Normally he would follow me. But this time, he didn't. he must have seen how troubled I was and decided it was for the best to just leave me alone.

I walked back, leaving the cover of the woods with a deep sigh. They were expectoing me cause there they sat, waiting for me at the entrance to the woods. Darn Angel and her mind reading.

"Hey Max," Fang whispered. He looked sad that he didn't follow me. That he didn't see me all day basically.

"Hey," I replied. I looked around to see no Jeb or mom or Ella. Fang answered my question before I could even get it out of my mouth.

"They left. They thought it would be best." Fang stated.

"THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BEST?! WUT THE-" Fang cut me off there.

"No more should be said Max." Fang whispered in my ear. Yeah, he was probably right. I was about to say something that was not meant for ears of children.

"You okay Max?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah I'm fine," I responded monotonically. I looked around. No telepator.

"_Sheisse!!" (_nobody said anything against it in a different language) I exclaimed, "WHO HAS THE TELEPATOR?!"

"It should be over there." Fang calmly said. We walked over to the spot that he was pointing at and it was there. Dang. I wanted a good reason to go after Jeb.

"We made extra sure that Jeb didn't take it," Gazzy justified.

"Oh. That's good." I replied, not so happy.


End file.
